JACKSON, Miss. (KNOE 8 News & AP) – Update: The Coast Guard says a normally bustling stretch of the Mississippi River remains closed to barge and ship traffic as cleanup crews with booms work to remove an oily sheen near Vicksburg after a barge with 80,000 gallons of oil hit a railroad bridge last weekend.
Coast Guard Lt. Ryan Gomez told The Associated Press on Monday that at least 21 other vessels such as towboats and barges are stalled by the river closing as crews with booms and a skimming device are removing hundreds of gallons of oily water from the river.
He says investigators are trying to determine why a tug pushing two tank barges collided with the bridge early Sunday. Another barge also was damaged.
2 barges hit Miss. bridge
A barge carrying 80,000 gallons of oil hit a railroad bridge in Vicksburg, Miss., on Sunday, spilling light crude into the Mississippi River and closing the waterway for eight miles in each direction, the Coast Guard said. A second barge was damaged.
Investigators did not know how much had spilled, but an oily sheen was reported as far as three miles downriver of Vicksburg after the 1:12 a.m. accident, said Lt. Ryan Gomez of the Coast Guard’s office in Memphis, Tenn.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the second barge also hit the bridge or if it ran into the first barge, he said. The first barge was still leaking Sunday evening, and emergency workers set out booms to absorb and contain the oil, Gomez said. The river’s closure halted at least five northbound and two southbound vessels, he said.
The bridge was found safe for trains, said Petty Officer Carlos Vega.
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